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The data is exactly the same in both XML files. The only difference is how the data has
been arranged. This is a very simple example of the power of XSLT. Once we have
learned more about how to process XML files using an XSLT processor and definition
file, we will be using XSLT transformations to present XmlOut data in HTML format.
6.1.2. The Process of Transforming
The process of transforming an XML document into another format, such as HTML,
requires two types of processing engines. We first need a parser capable of loading the
source XML document into a DOM (Document Object Model) tree structure. The XSLT
document is also loaded into the parser and a tree structure created for it. This tree
structure will normally be optimized to accommodate XSLT processing and is specific to
the processor being used. We then need an XSLT processor to take the XML document
structure and match up the nodes within the document against the various &templates"
found in the XSLT document structure, and then output the result. The final tree structure
(the output) is dynamically created based on information contained within the XSLT
document. Here is a simple diagram of the transformation process:
Figure 6.1. The XSLT transformation process.
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